Door for refrigerator



March 18, 1958 E. WENDT 2,827,113

DOOR FOR REFRIGERATOR Filed May 9, 1955 v 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 III }I| l IN VEN TOR.

EU6IY WENDT March 18, 1958 E. WENDT 2,327,118

DOOR FOR REFRIGERATOR Filed May 9, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States 1 The invention relates to an improvement for refrigerators, an improvement which permits a space-saving construction.

According to the invention, the refrigerator is not pro vided with the usual swinging door but with a jalousie type rolling door so that no provision for extra space for opening and closing the door has to be made in the room in which the refrigerator is set up. Jalousie-type rolling doors per se are generally known in the construction of furniture, as for instance, a closure for desks. However, the rolling door for refrigerators according to the present invention is provided with insulating inserts between two flexible outer walls. Moreover, in addition to the insulating layer, spacers are provided between the walls.

The spacers may consist of any suitable material. A particularly advantageous construction is achieved, however, if the outer walls of the rolling doors are made of elastic material, and, if the spacers in the form of transverse strips are likewise made of elastic material, such as rubber, they are connected to the outer walls by means of an adhesive or by being vulcanized thereon. This procedure results in a large number of hollow cells which may be sealed on both edges by an airtight elastic strip, such as a rubber gasket overlapping both walls and cemented thereon.

Insulation may be achieved by filling the hollow spaces between the two walls with any suitable material. Instead of this type of insulation, air cells may equally well serve the purpose of thermal protection.

The invention will hereinafter be explained more in detail, reference being had to the accompanying drawings which show several constructions by way of example.

Figs. 1 to 3 show diagrammatically, by way of example, various arrangements of a rolling door according to the invention on a refrigerator.

Fig. 4 is a partial section through the arrangement according to Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a side view of a vertical partial section of the arrangement according to Fig. 1.

Similar references designate corresponding parts in the several views.

Fig. 1 shows a refrigerator 1 with a rolling door 2 opening upward. In this embodiment, handle is provided on the lower border piece of the door. One could just as well provide a door adapted to open downward as indicated by handle 21 shown in dashed lines in Fig. 1. The arrangement to be preferred in each instance depends upon handiness, taking into account the size of the refrigerator and the best possibility of housing the door which rolls up while being opened. Sufficient space is available, as a rule, beside the cooling unit so that the incorporation of the rolling door need not add to the over-all height of the refrigerator.

Fig. 2 shows a refrigerator 1 in which the rolling door comprises two parts 22 and 23 which open upward and downward, respectively, whereas the two parts 24 and 25 of the door shown in Fig. 3 open sidewise.

The forward or leading edges 26, 26' of the door are atent ice provided with sealing members 27, 27', preferably in the form of suitable rubber gaskets.

The construction of the described door is clearly apparent from Figs. 4 and 5. Inner and outer walls 3 and 4, spaced apart from each other and consisting of elastic material, support on their outer surface suitable stiffening elements in the form of rails 6 or 6', respectively, which are arranged transverse to the direction of movement of door 2. These rails are overlapping metal rails, due to the cross-sectional profile shown, and are each provided with a step 8 extending in longitudinal direction. The rails are rigidly connected to the elastic walls 3 and 4 by rivets 12. Walls 3 and 4 are mutually connected by means of internal rubber spacers 7 vulcanized thereon. The cells formed by Walls 3 and 4 and the rubber spacers 7 arranged between them are closed at the ends by a U-shaped rubber gasket 11 overlapping the walls and cemented thereto (Fig. 4).

The hollow cell spaces between walls 3 and 4 are filled in the usual manner with a suitable insulating material, such as cork or the like. Instead of solid insulating material it is also possible to utilize them as air cells, the enclosures of which are formed by walls 3 and 4 and spacers 7.

Door 2 which is guided in recessed tracks on either side of the refrigerator body 1 is rendered adequately tight in accordance with the invention by providing said tracks in the refrigerator body 1 with suitable rubber lining strips 10, 10' or 9, 9', respectively.

The described example of construction of a flexible rolling door in accordance with the invention shows that it is possible to produce such a door with good insulating characteristics and adequate tightness. It is understood, of course, that the details of the invention are not confined to the described construction but that modifications may be applied to the construction as well as to the materials used.

For example, spacers 7 may consist of metal, or, the profile rails for transverse reinforcement of the walls may be made of any suitable material. The spacers may extend across the entire width of the door or else may be arranged in short pieces. They may be cemented onto the elastic outer walls or be connected therewith in any other suitable manner.

I claim:

1. In a refrigerator including a casing having an access opening, guides at the sides of said opening, and a flexible rolling door slidable in said guides, said door comprising inner and outer flexible walls provided with internal spacers forming cells, and a plurality of flexibly connected stiffening members, said stiffening members secured to the outer sides of the walls and having a cross-sectional profile to overlap one another.

2. In a refrigerator according to claim l wherein, the said inner and outer walls are provided with flexible spacers extending transversely and longitudinally between said walls forming cells for receiving insulating material.

3. In a refrigerator according to claim 1 wherein, the said inner and outer walls are provided with flexible spacers extending transversely and longitudinally between said walls forming cells for receiving insulating material, and said stiffening members are secured to the outer sides of the walls and have a cross-sectional profile to overlap one another, and a U shaped rubber gasket at each side of the door and having its edges cemented to the outer faces of the inner and outer walls to close the outer ends of said cells.

4. In a refrigerator according to claim 1 wherein, the stiffening members are of transversely stepped cross section with the inwardly directed portion of each step secured to its related wall by rivets and the outwardly direotedjportion ofeach step stands in free overlapping relation to the riveted portion of an adjacent member.

:5; ;;5 References 'Cited'in lthe file of 'thispatent. I

H I I V v UNITED. STATES PATEN TS" 2,Q51,421 Richard Ang. 18, 1936 4 4 r Stratton Dec. 13, 19,38 Hopkins Feb. 27, 1940 Brokering Sept. 30, 1941 Carlson Oct. 14, 1941 Romito Sept. 12, 1 9 50 Eckel Nov. 25, 1952 Collins Jan. 26, 1954 

